The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 1981 World Series on Oct. 28, 1981, beating the New York Yankees 9-2 in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium. When the dust settled, the answer to who won World Series MVP was not one player but three: Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager shared the honor.
That came after a series that kept swinging back and forth. New York took Games 1 and 2 at home, but the Dodgers answered by winning Games 3, 4 and 5 by one run each to move ahead 3-2. Rain delayed Game 6 by a day, and when it finally started, Willie Randolph put New York in front with a solo home run in the third inning.
The lead did not last long. The Dodgers scored eight runs over the next three innings and never looked back, with Burt Hooton getting the win, George Frazier taking the loss and Steve Howe finishing the final 11 outs for the save. Guerrero was the biggest bat in the clincher, driving in five RBIs in Game 6 and finishing the series 7-for-21 with two home runs, one triple, one double and seven RBIs.
The shared MVP call fits the numbers. Cey went 7-for-20 with one home run and six RBIs, while Yeager finished 4-for-14 with two home runs, one double and four RBIs. No single line separated the three enough to erase the others, and the award reflected a title won by a team that kept finding another answer when the series narrowed to one run at a time.
The 1981 championship also closed a chapter for a familiar Dodgers group, because Game 6 was the final time Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Cey and Bill Russell started together. The same history lookback that revisits that night also notes Clayton Kershaw receiving the Roberto Clemente Award in 2012, another reminder that Dodgers milestones keep getting added to the record long after the final out at Yankee Stadium.
